It's hard to believe my itty bitty is 2 weeks old already. In a sense I feel like time is flying by, and yet it feels like we've been doing this forever. It's strange how it almost feels like you're stuck in a sort of time continuum. The days go by quickly but yet they all kind of blur together.
Morning rounds were positive again and we felt like we could finally start to relax a bit. Because James was still doing well and his Chylothorax hadn't flared up again he was given the go ahead for test feeding and practicing going to the breast without eating. This is a HUGE step because once he's eating we can fly home to NICU Winnipeg, provided the cardiology team gave us the go ahead. In addition his hemoglobin and platelet levels were staying steady so it really did look like things were improving quite rapidly!
So, at 11:30am I was sent off to pump that way I would have fresh milk for him to eat and empty breasts to have him practice on. He wasn't allowed much, only 5ml (or 1tsp), but it was the most he'd ever had and I was really excited for him! Did it go well? Honestly, it was kind of a mixed reaction from both me and James. He was latching just fine and would suck a little bit, but then would get really mad because A) he wasn't used to working for his food B) when he did work for it my breast was empty anyway which left very little reward for his effort aside for a few drops from the syringe and C) it's harder to latch on an empty breast. But this was the first time since he was first born that I had been able to have skin to skin contact with him, or even hold him to my chest rather than just lying in my arms. It was so wonderful to finally be able to hold my baby close and I can't wait to really hold him, without all the wires and tubes.
After he finished eating and crying a whole bunch he had the biggest burp of life... and promptly spit up all his milk on me. lol. They said it wasn't a bad thing since he's still on the TPN and getting all his nutrients from that, and it was kind of expected since he'd literally never eaten before this and his stomach hadn't been stretched yet. He still had newborn belly and it couldn't really hold a full 5ml quite yet.
While he was in my arms he also decided to pee, since he'd just had his lasix, and Chris got to change him in my lap. We've decided that regular parenting stuff is going to be a breeze after what we've been through. If we can change diapers, feed, wash, and swaddle our baby with a million wires and tubes coming out of him that we have to be careful not to bump while he's busy squirming and fussing, a normal baby will be a piece of cake!
My cousin Kevin had just flown in to Edmonton on Sunday night for second semester at Vanguard College so we invited him to stop by for a visit. We told him to bring his girlfriend since it'd probably win him mega brownie points. Girls love visiting sick babies! They were able to come by around 3:00pm and even brought a care package from home! My grandparents, my auntie Linda (Kevin's mom), and my parents had all put together a bunch of goodies for us! We got chocolates and granola bars, protein and popcorn, spices and BBQ sauce (the things you don't think about until you buy meat and then remember you have nothing to season it with), and even a couple shirts my dad had picked out for me since my clothes don't fit any more. Even just having a few notes from home was incredible. Kevin and his girlfriend, Dia, also got to be some of James very first visitors since only our immediate family, who had been at the hospital in Winnipeg for the birth, had met him so far. They stayed for about an hour and it was so nice to see family, and have a little break, even if we were at the hospital.
The Best Birthday Gift
Kevin and Dia left just before the second set of rounds that afternoon and we were anxious to hear from cardiology. This was the update we'd been waiting for since he had his echo on Monday. Between his huge improvements over the past few days and a positive echocardiogram, we'd been given the go ahead to transport home, provided his feeds went well and his Chylo didn't flare up! They told us it would probably be Wednesday or Thursday before we actually left, but this was HUGE news! We would be going back to NICU Winnipeg of course and not actually home, but we would still be near our families and sleeping in our own bed at night! They said the third VSD and tricuspid valve weren't causing enough of a problem at this time to warrant surgery right away, and instead they'd like to monitor it closely from Winnipeg and watch to see if time would heal them (sometimes they improve as they grow) or at least wait till he's older and stronger to fix them surgically.
Either way, this was incredible news and we were so excited!
Paper Work
Because we had brought sandwiches with us to the hospital for lunch and hadn't left at all during the day, after his evening feed and practice at the breast we went home for the rest of the night. We had been giving all our attention to baby over the past two weeks so this was the first time we'd had the opportunity to do our laundry (thanks mom for the detergent! You can only flip your socks inside out so many times before even you start to notice the smell :S ) and fill out the Service Canada form for the Parents of Critically Ill Children employment insurance. Let me tell you, those forms are not easy to fill out if you've worked as a sub. There is no such thing as a "typical week" when you're a substitute teacher. We also discovered that my EI maternity leave claim that I had filled out on December 2nd STILL hadn't been processed! UGH! I hate ambiguous forms and inefficiency. Gah. I would really like that to just be done. But after we finished filing the paperwork Chris and I (mostly me lol) decided to try watching the Mindy Project on Netflix. I had gotten the recommendation a few months ago from our friend Nick and now that we had Netflix we finally had the opportunity to check it out. It's hilarious for the record. Chris has mixed feelings about it, but I think it's great lol.
Now that we finally have the chance to breathe a bit easier, we were absolutely exhausted. So after reading for a little while (yes, even now we read to each other every night. We made sure to bring plenty of books with us) we went to bed.
And with all the prayers and well wishes for our baby I have had another song stuck in my head lately. This time one that I had study while taking my vocal performance degree:
"When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two upon my right hand,
Two upon my left hand.
Two who warmly cover
Two who o'er me hover,
Two to whom 'tis given
To guide my steps to heaven."
- Humperdinck's Hansel unt Gretel